Sir Hugh I Courtenay (after 1358 - 5 or 6 March 1425), of Haccombe in Devon, was Sheriff of Devon for 1418/19 and was thrice elected knight of the shire for Devon in 1395, 1397 and 1421.[1] He was a grandson of Hugh de Courtenay, 2nd/10th Earl of Devon (1303–1377), was the younger brother of Edward de Courtenay, 3rd/11th Earl of Devon (1357–1419), "The Blind Earl", and was the grandfather of Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon (d.1509), KG, created Earl of Devon in 1485 by King Henry VII. He was the link between the senior line of the Courtenay Earls of Devon made extinct following the Battle of Tewkesbury in 1471 (his elder brother's line) and the post-Wars of the Roses creation of a new Earldom for his grandson made in 1485 by King Henry VII.
Hugh Courtenay was born in 1358, the younger of two sons of Sir Edward de Courtenay (d. between 2 February 1368 –1 April 1371) of Goodrington, Devon, by his wife Emeline (or Emme) Dawney (or Dauney, Daunay, etc.) (c.1329 - 28 February 1371/2), daughter and heiress of Sir John Dawnay (d.1346/7) of Sheviock in Cornwall, Mudford Terry and Hinton in Somerset[2] by his wife Sybil Treverbyn. Emmeline Dauney was a great heiress who brought to her husband several manors and estates[3] Hugh Courtenay was the grandson of Hugh de Courtenay, 2nd/10th Earl of Devon (1303–1377). At the 2nd/10th Earl's death on 2 May 1377, Courtenay's elder brother, Edward, became the 3rd/11th Earl of Devon.[4]
His elder brother was due to inherit the earldom and the vast Courtenay estates under primogeniture or entail, and thus as the second son with no prospective patrimony, Hugh Courtenay was given various estates by his mother, the heiress Emmeline Dauney.[5] The practice of raising up a younger son in this way was common in the case of a wealthy heiress who married an already wealthy husband, and frequently the younger son beneficiary was required to adopt the maternal surname and armorials.[6] Furthermore, his mother requested[5] his elder brother the Earl to give him the estates of "Goderington" (Goodrington), Stancombe (alias Slancomb (sic) Dawney) and South Allington, which he duly performed by deed of indenture dated 1414.[7]
Courtenay's elder brother, Edward Courtenay, 11th Earl of Devon (c.1357 - 5 December 1419), succeeded to the earldom of Devon in 1377, and by 1384 Hugh was serving as one of his brother's esquires. Earlier, in 1378 Courtenay had taken part with his uncles, Sir Philip Courtenay and Sir Peter Courtenay, in an unsuccessful naval expedition against Spain at which Courtenay was captured, but quickly ransomed. He had been knighted by 1387, and in March of that year served at sea in his brother's retinue under the Lord Admiral, the Earl of Arundel.
Little else is known of his career until he went to Ireland with King Richard II's expedition in April 1399, serving under the Duke of Aumale, who had earlier been granted custody of the lands of Courtenay's stepson, Fulk FitzWarin.
Over the years Courtenay acquired considerable property, much of it by way of his marriages. At his death he held 14 manors, principally in the West Country, but also in Essex and Herefordshire.
Courtenay served on commissions during the reigns of both Richard II and his successor, Henry IV, including commissions concerned with inquiry into the possessions of Richard II's former supporters, suggesting that he accommodated himself to both regimes.
He was made Commissioner of Survey to Devon and Cornwall in 1388, and again by Lords Appellant to the two counties in October 1397. In 1395 he was elected as MP for Devon and again in September 1397. At the height of the Crisis, King Richard II betrayed his uncle, Earl of Arundel, and as a consequence he lost his main supporters.
After the usurpation by King Henry IV Hugh was made Commissioner of Array for Devon in December 1399 - responsible for raising troops and bringing the south-west to the Lancastrian cause. He proved a successful recruiter for the wars in France, as he was made commissioner again in July 1402 to fight the Welsh Rebellion. The commission met again in August, September, and October 1403, after King Henry had defeated Harry Hotspur and the Mortimers at Shrewsbury.
In February 1400, Sir Hugh was a Commissioner of oyer and terminer dispensing the king's justice in the south-west. There was also a Commission of Inquiry into waste lands. King Henry made Hugh a Commissioner in the region and in Hampshire, a traditional land area of Courtenay holdings, to look into the concealment of possessions owned by adherents of the late king. He was also on the commission for "concealment of alnage" in Devon from July 1401.
The south-western counties disliked the new king and interference of parliament and in 1405 the Cornish rebelled with widespread rioting. In January a commission was set up to look into "unlawful assemblies" during 1406. Sir Hugh, however was a known Lancastrian: in May 1402 he had been forced to proclaim the intention of Henry IV to govern well. Also he was a JP for Devon, appointed on 16 February 1400 for the period until 1407; instructed to enforce the law and collect the king's taxes. He was appointed Tax Collector for Devon in March 1404. He was made High Sheriff of Devon on 4 November 1418, holding the office for the year until 23 November 1419. When his brother the Earl of Devon died the new earl was fighting the French abroad, and so Sir Hugh was the most senior member of the family at home and probably felt compelled to represent Devon in parliament again in May 1421.
Henry IV died in 1413, and during the new reign Sir Hugh found favour with Henry V. King Henry V had travelled triumphantly through France, securing the future accession of his son as King of both England and France. Sir Hugh was thus present as knight of the shire for the County of Devon.
Hugh's brother, the 11th Earl, died in 1419, and was succeeded by his son, Hugh Courtenay, 12th Earl of Devon (1389 — 16 June 1422). The 12th Earl spent considerable time abroad in service to the crown, leaving Hugh as the senior member of the family in England. After the death of his nephew in 1422, Courtenay was again the senior member of the family during the minority of Thomas Courtenay, 13th Earl of Devon.
Courtenay died on 5 or 6 March 1425, leaving two daughters, Joan and Eleanor, by his third wife Philippa, and two sons and a daughter by his fourth wife, Maud. The lands which had belonged to Philippa were divided between their two daughters, Joan and Eleanor. Courtenay's heir was his elder son, Edward, who was eight years of age at his father's death. Courtenay's younger son, Hugh (d.1471) of Boconnoc in Cornwall (inherited on his marriage to Margaret Carminowe), was the father of Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon of the 1485 creation.
Courtenay was buried at Haccombe beside his third wife, Philippa.[8]
Sir Hugh Courtenay married four times:[9]